Grand Guignol Orchestra: Stigmate

I read Grand Guignol Orchesta, Vol. 4 (Grand Guignol Orchestra)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

The New 52 Review: DEMON KNIGHTS #1

DEMON KNIGHTS #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Paul Cornell
PENCILS: Diogenes Neves
INKS: Oclair Albert
COLORS: Marcelo Maiolo
LETTERS: Jared K. Fletcher
COVER: Tony Daniel with Tomeu Morey
32pp, Color, $2.99

The Demon is a DC Comics character created by Jack Kirby, which first saw publication in The Demon #1 (cover date August 1972). This demon from Hell is bound to a human named Jason Blood, and despite his origins, the Demon usually sides with the good guys. With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” the Demon stars in a new series, the Dark Ages-set Demon Knights, which is essentially a team book.

As Demon Knights #1 (“Seven Against the Dark”) opens, it is the last night of Camelot. It is also a night of destiny, as Merlin binds Jason of Norwich to the demon Etrigan. Four centuries later – the Dark Ages, the Questing Queen and her horde of beasts march north, heading towards Alba Sarum. First, they must pass through the village of Little Spring. Meanwhile, Jason and Madame Xanadu are in Little Spring just trying to enjoy a pint – peacefully, but they have a date with destiny and are also joined by new companions.

I’ve wondered when I would find a Paul Cornell-written comic book that I would like, having hated his Captain Britain series, and after the re-launched Stormwatch, I thought that it would never happen. But I love me some Demon Knights. It is a slick, rowdy action fantasy dressed up like a pitch for a Hollywood blockbuster, but it is a highly enjoyable read. The art by Diogenes Neves, Oclair Albert (inks), and Marcelo Maiolo (colors) is pretty and best of all, looks just right for the concept and also the tone this series is trying to set.

I think I’ll try Demon Knights again. Fun comic books are sometimes hard to find.

A-

September 14th
BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batman-and-robin-1.html
BATWOMAN #1 2.99
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batwoman-1.html
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenstein-agent-of-shade-1.html
GREEN LANTERN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/green-lantern-1.html
LEGION LOST #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/legion-lost-1.html
RED LANTERNS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/red-lanterns-1.html
SUPERBOY #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/superboy-1.html

VIZ Media Continues to Dominate New York Times Bestseller List

VIZ MEDIA SWEEPS THE LATEST NEW YORK TIMES MANGA BESTSELLER LIST FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A MONTH

Latest NARUTO Edition Takes #1 Spot And Is Complemented By Other Top Manga Properties Including BLEACH, BLACK BIRD, BLUE EXORCIST, ULTIMO, DEATH NOTE And More!

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, has swept the latest Top 10 on the New York Times Manga Bestseller list for the week of September 10th. This is the second time the company has dominated the list in less than a month; VIZ Media previously swept all Top 10 spots for the week of August 20th.

The top selling VIZ Media manga (graphic novel) titles included:

NARUTO Vol. 52
BLEACH Vol. 36
BLACK BIRD Vol. 10
DENGEKI DIASY Vol. 6
KIMI NO TODOKE: FROM ME TO YOU Vol. 10
LIBRARY WARS: LOVE & WAR Vol. 6
BLUE EXORCIST Vol. 1
BUTTERFLIES, FLOWERS Vol. 8
ULTIMO Vol. 6
DEATH NOTE BLACK EDITION Vol. 5

The New York Times Bestseller lists are an expanded version of those appearing in the September 25th, 2011 print edition of the Book Review, reflecting sales for the week ending September 10th, 2011. Rankings reflect weekly sales for books sold in both print and electronic formats.

“We’re very happy to see such a diverse roster of manga titles dominate the latest New York Times manga bestseller list for the second time in a month,” says Leyla Aker, Vice President, Publishing. “The titles range from science fiction to fantasy to romance to suspense, and are a good representation of the breadth of VIZ Media’s catalog. We look forward to continuing to offer fans the most extensive and varied manga catalog of any publisher in the industry!”

For more information on VIZ Media manga titles, please visit: http://www.viz.com/.


About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular monthly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP magazine and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at http://www.viz.com/.

The New 52 Review: BATWOMAN #1

BATWOMAN #1
DC COMICS

WRITERS: J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
ARTIST: J.H. Williams III
COLORS: Dave Stewart
LETTERS: Todd Klein
32pp, Color, $2.99

Hydrology Part 1: “Leaching”

Batwoman first appeared in Detective Comics #233 (cover July 1956) as the Bat-Woman. Created by Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff, Batwoman’s alter ego was Kathy Kane, and she was a crime-fighting rival to Batman. With the re-launch of DC Comics superhero line, “The New 52,” Batwoman gets a new comic book series, and while she is still secretly Kathy Kane, today’s Batwoman is different from the original Kane.

Batwoman #1 finds Kate is in the midst of relationship drama – a new girlfriend and the return of her hated father, Col. Jake Kane. She has her hands full with a strange ghostly villain, La Llorona, who is kidnapping children. Meanwhile, Batwoman takes on a partner/plebeian, Bette AKA Flamebird, but she doesn’t even know about the Department of Extranormal Operations and their new Gotham operation.

The last time I read Batwoman it was in Detective Comics #854, written by Greg Rucka and drawn by J.H. Williams III, and for me, it was a dull reading experience. I must commend co-writers W. Haden Blackman and Williams because this first issue of Batwoman is anything but dull. I counted four major subplots and three others that were introduced by hint. Every few pages, the story shifts to another scene, but because all these scenes either have interesting characters or involve intriguing subplots, the story flows quietly beautifully without a hitch.

Obviously, the beauty and “floetry” comes from J.H. Williams’ efficient visual storytelling, which is composed of his exquisite art. There is no doubt for me that Williams and colorist Dave Stewart are a match made in comic book heaven. For scenes involving Batwoman, the police, and the more fantastical elements of the story, Williams presents compositions that shimmer with light and stream across the pages, for which Stewart creates a smoky watercolor effect. Williams presents the character drama pages in a retro style that Stewart’s colors with an Art Deco effect.

Apparently, Williams will not be drawing all the issues of Batwoman, but I will certainly stay with this title as long as he and Stewart are doing this voodoo that they do so well.

A

September 14th
BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batman-and-robin-1.html
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenstein-agent-of-shade-1.html
GREEN LANTERN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/green-lantern-1.html
LEGION LOST #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/legion-lost-1.html
RED LANTERNS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/red-lanterns-1.html
SUPERBOY #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/superboy-1.html

The New 52 Review: LEGION LOST #1

LEGION LOST #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Fabian Nicieza
ARTIST: Pete Woods
COLORS: Brad Anderson
LETTERS: Travis Lanham
32pp, Color, $2.99

Run from Tomorrow Part One: Present Tense

Legion Lost was a 12-issue comic book limited series starring members of the Legion of Super-Heroes (LoSH). Published by DC Comics (of course), the series focused on a group of Legionnaires banished to the far side of the universe.

With the re-launch of the DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” Legion Lost returns as a new ongoing comic book series with a new cast: Chameleon Girl, Dawnstar, Gates, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, and Wildfire. To stop a terrorist act, they travel from the 30th (or 31st) century back to the 21st Century, but the rules of time traveling are changing in a post-Flashpoint DC Universe.

As Legion Lost #1 opens, seven members of the Legion of Super-Heroes (LoSH) arrive via a Time Bubble in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota – 21st century Earth. Their mission is to stop Alastor, a shape-shifting terrorist from Rimbor, from infecting Earth with a deadly virus. However, adjusting to a new Earth proves to be difficult for some of the Legion Lost, making a dangerous mission all the more perilous.

After one issue, Legion Lost seems as if it could offer an interesting spin on the team comic book. There is a lot of setup here, but writer Fabian Nicieza digs into the lynchpin of the central plotline – the threat of a pathogen, while offering nice character moments (such as Dawnstar’s troubles). I’ve never thought of Nicieza as a great comic book writer, but he’s good at writing fast-paced superhero comics.

The art by Pete Woods is all over the place, and sometimes it seems as if Woods believes he is supposed to churn out impressionistic drawings. Some of the visual storytelling is not clear and some of the character drawing is ugly. Brad Anderson’s coloring manages to save some of Woods’ worst moments, so Legion Lost may be worth a second or maybe even a third look.

B-


September 14th
BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batman-and-robin-1.html
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenstein-agent-of-shade-1.html
GREEN LANTERN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/green-lantern-1.html
RED LANTERNS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/red-lanterns-1.html
SUPERBOY #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/superboy-1.html

The New 52 Review: RED LANTERNS #1

RED LANTERNS #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Peter Milligan
PENCILS: Ed Benes
INKS: Rob Hunter
COLORS: Nathan Eyring
LETTERS: Carlos M. Mangual
COVER: Ed Benes and Rob Hunter with Rod Reis
32pp, Color, $2.99

Part of “The New 52,” DC Comics’ re-launch of its superhero comics line, is the release of comic books starring characters that previously never had their own ongoing comic book series. The Red Lanterns, who are part of Green Lantern lore, are one such group of characters.

Red Lanterns #1 (“With Blood and Rage”) opens as the Red Lanterns lead an assault against marauders in Space Sector 666. However, Atrocitus, the leader and creator of the Red Lanterns, is just not feeling the rage and believes that he is just going through the motions. What is this malaise? Meanwhile, in Small Ockdon, United Kingdom, brothers Ray and John face a tragedy that brings out the rage.

Writer Peter Milligan fashions scenes and set pieces that convincingly convey what seems to be this series dominant theme, rage. There are also odd moments of poignancy in a few scenes, but the story reads cold, lacking the heat of the hotter emotions. The art by Ed Benes (who is from the chicken scratchy school of early Image Comics art) and Rob Hunter does nothing for me. It is flat and the emotions and feelings it suggests (rage, resentment, jealousy) come across as cartoonish and fake. I’m not interested in where this series is going, although I am usually curious about what Milligan is writing.

C

September 14th
BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batman-and-robin-1.html
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenstein-agent-of-shade-1.html
GREEN LANTERN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/green-lantern-1.html
SUPERBOY #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/superboy-1.html

The New 52 Review: GREEN LANTERN #1

GREEN LANTERN #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Geoff Johns
PENCILS: Doug Mahnke
INKS: Christian Alamy with Tom Nguyen
COLORS: David Baron
LETTERS: Sal Cipriano
COVER: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado with Rod Reis (Variant cover by Greg Capullo)
32pp, Color, $2.99

The best known Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, first appeared in Showcase #22 (September-October 1959). Like other Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814 (which includes Earth), wields a power ring, one of the most powerful weapons in universe. But times have changed.

There have been other Green Lanterns of 2814, and with the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” there is a new Green Lantern. Now, Hal Jordan’s nemesis, Thaal Sinestro, who first appeared in Green Lantern #7 (July-August 1961), replaces Jordan. Sinestro shares the spotlight with Jordan and apparently takes the lead in the new version of the flagship Green Lantern title.

As Green Lantern #1 opens, Thaal Sinestro faces the Guardians of the Universe on his way to being the new Green Lantern (of Sector 2814). Sinestro’s first stop is his home world, Korugar, which is besieged by Sinestro’s own Yellow Lanterns. Meanwhile, Hal Jordan seems to be having every kind of life crisis he can have but then, help is offered…

Once upon a time, in a rural home far, far away, I was a Green Lantern fan, but the character mostly bores me now. I didn’t read anything in this new Green Lantern to make me become a big fan again, but this is a good comic book, for the most part. The juxtaposition of Sinestro’s ascendance and Hal Jordan’s collapse gives the book some dramatic tension. The Yellow Lanterns and Guardians sequences did not appeal to me, so I see them as problems in an otherwise good comic book.

I must also commend penciller Doug Mahnke and inker Christian Alamy for creating some of the best Brian Bolland-clone art I’ve seen in a long time. I might come back for more that.

B

September 14th

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batman-and-robin-1.html
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenstein-agent-of-shade-1.html
SUPERBOY #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/superboy-1.html